On fanfiction and feedback

[nuraicha]

Hello!

Today I stumbled across this post on Tumblr and I thought some of you would be interested in reading it. It's about the importance of leaving feedback to the writers so they can know people are reading and liking/disliking their stories. It's mainly applied to Tumblr (and frankly, I've tried Tumblr as a fic platform and I think it's *awful* for interacting with the writer, so I can't understand why this post has been made in the first place because, if I wrote something like this, the first thing would be: read/write in platforms that allow you/the reader to have easy means of giving you feedback... But well, that's another matter alltogether), but it has several points that I agree with and I find interesting. I especially like the point about specific feedback; yes please! There isn't anything better that knowing *exactly* what worked for each reader. Of course, you can't ask each reader to give you a complete and thorough analysis on your style (god knows I don't do that as often as I would like) but, if there's something you really liked and want to talk about, do it!

However, on the specific feedback matter I don't agree with this line: "Want to influence our next fic? Tell us what you liked about this one and I bet you it will keep showing up!". That sounded to me like if you *have to* write the things as your readers like them. Yes of course, many things can influence in your writing, but just by telling me "I loved X thing" doesn't mean I have to include it the next fic if I don't think it worked. After all, it's our story, isn't it? We can't be complete slaves of our readers.

And now I want to quote the last paragraph fully:

"We can’t do this writing thing without you guys. So thank you so much! Without readers, we’re just talking to ourselves. We love and appreciate you for reading- but we need to know you’re doing it. We need feedback like we need air. Don’t let your favorite writers suffocate! :)"

Opinions and thoughts? I would like to see what my flist thinks of this. And yes, I know I have like tons of messages in my inbox and some are comments here in my LJ that I have to reply, and some PMs, and *hides in shame* I'll get to them, I promise. I'm so sorry for being so absent and not coming back to you at all, but I usually check LJ on my phone and I don't like writing there, so I always tell myself to wait until I get to the laptop to reply to things and... Not enough time to do so. That's the reason why I mostly just read fics (and not many, sorry MS friends) and leave very short comments, because 95% of times I'm on the phone. I'm really sorry, but as you know I graduate in June *maniac laughter of horror* and I'm SO stressed.

Hope you are all okay x

Comments

[pwoperninjaelf.livejournal.com]

Aside from what I said on Jenn's comment...

with commenting it's always great to get comments that're detailed and tell you what especially stood out for the readers. It always makes me reflect on when I was writing and remember what made me add that bit in :3 But then comments that are filled more with "OMG"s and flailing still make me grin madly and let me know that people are out there actually reading and enjoying my stuff.

Though yes, I don't think the whole "tell me so I can use it again" thing is great... It's nice to know what people especially like, but at the end of the day I write according to whatever my brain comes up with and for the enjoyment I get in actually writing, rather than let others dictate my imagination.

As with commenting myself? I tend to always comment on anything I've read, because I know how much it means to the author... Maybe it's also to do with the fact that I'm super talkative and can't NOT give my opinion or a comment on what I enjoyed XD But yes, I also HATE using my phone to comment on LJ, even if it's a great platform for reading, it sucks for commenting! So I usually try wait till I get to a pc to comment. That's the only time I sometimes let a comment or two get away from me, purely because I forget... >_<

What I do find kinda discouraging though, is when authors then don't reply to your comment... it kinda then feels like they don't care :/ And yes, I know this sounds dumb coming from me as I still have a lot to reply to, but I always do reply... It just takes a while :P I try do it when I post the next update to that fic, I won't let myself post until I've replied to the previous one's comments..

Okay... I'm now spamming you with my rambling... see I comment toooo much X_X lol but one last thing: Irene, you always leave lovely comments ;3

<3

[stefanyeah.livejournal.com]

What I do find kinda discouraging though, is when authors then don't reply to your comment... it kinda then feels like they don't care
And furthermore it's just polite and good manners. Also it's mutual appreciation and encouraging both sides to give each other what they want. *nods*
I may have missed a few comments in the past when I stopped using Thunderbird and changed mail adresses.

[nuraicha.livejournal.com]

Sorry sorry for this horribly late reply, but I have been so busy these last months to properly catch up on LJ!

What I do find kinda discouraging though, is when authors then don't reply to your comment... it kinda then feels like they don't care :/ I 100% agree with this. As I said to someone above (I don't remember to whom exactly), the Internet allow us to have a relationship with the readers/authors than books don't, so why not to use it? I love replying to comments of my readers, I think it's the least you can do, after all they've taken their time to comment, and as we can consider that as a rare thing nowadays, I think it's only polite to reply back.

Do you think so? I think many times I don't! In fact, the other day I reread "A Choice" and I realised I hadn't left a comment the first time... and I didn't the second time either! Bad Irene! I'll use this comment to make it up: I LOVED THAT FIC! Great atmosphere, very dark, and a good vampires story, the traditional way just how I like it! You make them close to what vampires have always been about: a metaphor of sexual desires, and I loved that. Well done!

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

Dropping in here to say that I always feel a bit hurt when the author doesn't bother to reply, myself. I know some authors who do that and appear really aloof, like they don't give a shit about their readers, and it's never a good thing. That's why I make a point of responding to each and every comment on my fics (unless it's some obvious flame/troll/spam thing, of course, in which case I delete it). Every single comment from the flaily OMG ones to the detailed analyses is important, and that way, I also get the chance to thank the reader for dropping by and telling me that the story entertained them for a while. I know people are too scared to comment at times, especially if they've read something with such sparkling prose that it makes them feel like they can't even string a decent sentence together in comparison, but seriously, even a loud squeeing "OMG!" is fantastic. Especially if you write in tiny fandoms the way I do--each comment is worth its weight in gold (and I actually value my small fandom comments and kudos way more than the ones in, say, Doctor Who, because they are so much rarer).

[nuraicha.livejournal.com]

especially if they've read something with such sparkling prose that it makes them feel like they can't even string a decent sentence together in comparison This used to be me! I remember when I started reading fics in English, I barely commented because I was scared shitless of my grammar and spelling, and I often added a PS explaining I was learning English and apologising for my mistakes. I can't even remember how I felt when I first commented something by you, but I bet I was even more scared than with other authors, because you were one of my favourites. And when I started with "Ghazal"? Oh man, that was really difficult for me, I felt like a toddler typing! Thanks God I was brave enough to comment, or I wouldn't have met you <3

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

I'm so very glad you did <3 That's a really good example of what commenting can bring--wonderful friendships you would never have had otherwise :3